Thousands of Queensland households are being exposed to electrical dangers, with some not recognising the risk, and others confused over who to report it to.
In the past 12 months, Energex and Ergon Energy crews have been called out to nearly 2500 premises to investigate reports of electric shocks. Of these, nearly 250 were reported on the Sunshine Coast.
It’s a three per cent increase on the previous year, but an even more worrying trend is the spike in calls from tenants who have informed their landlords and property managers about electric shocks, but they have failed to urgently report it to Energex.
“A tingle from a tap or from a power point isn’t the same as a leaky tap or other minor household maintenance – it indicates an urgent, possibly lethal electrical problem and it needs to be reported and investigated ASAP,” Energex area manager Peter Lougheed said.
“Anyone can and should report issues like these. Whether you’re a homeowner, tenant or even a visitor to the property – we don’t care where the report comes from. We treat it as an emergency, and our crews are dispatched quickly to investigate.
“We don’t charge for these urgent callouts, and if the issue is at our end, we fix it for free. If the problem is behind the meter – for example, in the wiring – it’s then up to the property owner to engage a licenced electrical contractor to fix the issue and make it safe.”
Tahnee Murray leads the specialist team who take the high-priority safety calls at Energex. This team has noticed an alarming pattern of calls from renters following up on potentially deadly electrical faults that they’ve reported to their landlord or property manager, but these reports haven’t been passed on to Energex.
“It’s frightening that people are living with potentially life-threatening electrical hazards in their homes, where they should feel safe,” Ms Murray said.
“We’ve also had property managers and landlords phoning to report shocks days after their tenants have advised them – some simply don’t realise just how dangerous this situation can be, and that delayed reporting risks lives.”
Head of Queensland’s Electrical Safety Office, Donna Heelan is urging homeowners, tenants and rental managers to recognise the dangers of shocks and tingles and act quickly.
“People often describe feeling a tingling sensation when touching metal objects like taps, or light switches, which is likely an electric shock,” Ms Heelan said.
“Experiencing an electric shock is serious and should be treated seriously—there’s no such thing as a safe shock.”
“If a member of your household or a tenant tells you they are experiencing shocks or tingles, don’t dismiss or ignore it. Above all, don’t try to touch test the equipment yourself—these types of faults are often intermittent and volatile. A tingling sensation to one person can be a fatal electric shock for the next.”
In the past year, faulty power points or switches have accounted for the lion’s share of shock reports where a specific cause was pinpointed, with 300 callouts for Energex and Ergon Energy crews. Other shocks and tingles were found to be associated with household wiring (254 reports), damaged mains connections (131), fixed appliances like air conditioners, pool pumps and stoves (72), faulty switchboards (71), small appliances like hairdryers (80), faulty earthing sending current through taps (38), extension cords (36) and solar inverters (7).
Immediately report any shock, however seemingly minor to Energex on 13 19 62, don’t touch anything, and a crew will be there ASAP. The Faults calls team and response crews, are available 24/7 to keep Queenslanders safe.
